Press organizations say #FreeTurkeyJournalists for arrested journos

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

The hashtag “#FreeTurkeyJournalists” circulated on Twitter on Dec. 9 by Turkish and international press organizations as part of a social media campaign to bring attention to 146 journalists imprisoned by decree laws ordered under the state of emergency declared after the July 15 coup attempt. 

The journalists will enter the new year in prison. 

Press organizations took to Twitter on Dec. 9 at 11 a.m. with the #FreeTurkeyJournalists hashtag in English and #GazetecilikSuçDeğildir (journalism is not a crime) in Turkish.

The social media campaign will be followed by a demonstration outside Istanbul’s Silivri prison on Dec. 10 on World Human Rights Day.

Among the press organizations that will stand in solidarity with the imprisoned journalists are International Press Institute (IPI), PEN International, Turkish Journalists Association, Turkish Journalists Union, DİSK Basın-İş, Haber-Sen, PEN Turkey, Turkish Writers Union, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Journalists Federation, the European Journalists Federation, WAN-IFRA, EAJ, SEEMO, IFEX, Article 19 and Index on Censorship.

The organizations are demanding the 146 journalists be tried without arrest and ensure press freedom is implemented in the country. 

Press freedom groups have continuously criticized prison conditions, which have prevented them from accessing books and letters sent to them and banned from meeting supporters in prison visits.